Africa Research in sustainable intensification for next generation

Sustainable intensification of mixed crop livestock systems is a key pathway towards better food security, improved livelihoods and a healthy environment. As part of the US government’s Feed the Future initiative to address hunger and food security issues in sub-Saharan Africa, the US Agency for International Development (USAID) is supporting three multi-stakeholder agricultural research projects to sustainably intensify key African farming systems.

A recent study by scientists from the Center for Development Research, University of Bonn and the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) on ‘Stimulating innovations for sustainable agricultural practices among smallholder farmers: Persistence of intervention matters’ published in the Journal of Development Studies examined whether incentivizing farmers (with conditions) and providing them with information would increase the rate of adoption.